Sunset Park

NEW YORK STATE MAP GETS A MAKEOVER

The surface of the state pavilion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is a textured
map of New York State, but until two weeks ago, to look at the site, you might
not have known it. Since the end of the 1964 World's Fair, for which the pavilion
was designed, its gates have been closed and its back rooms used as storage
space for the Queens Theatre in the Park. The pavilion is closed to the public,
but Parks cares for it and cleans it nonetheless. Since the pavilion's last
cleaning, weeds have grown between the crevices and soil and debris collected
on its surface. The pavilion was built with an exceptional acoustic feature:
from its center point, without aid of electronic amplification, sounds-even
whispers-bloom in the air at impressive volumes.

From Wednesday, February 28 to Friday, March 2, a team of 15 from District
15 cleared the pavilion of debris with hand tools, which were because they are
unintrusive to the intricate surface of the floor. The crew smoothed the ground
with ice scrapers and shovels. They weeded and cleared out follow pots with
cultivators. The entire area was cleaned with blowers and then a sweeper. In
total, over 20 cubic yards of weeds, dirt, and miscellaneous debris were removed
from the site. According to Larry (Hollywood) Kalman, PRM, for fun, the crew
quizzed on another on obscure sites in New York State through boom of the amplifier.

WHEN SHOPS SHARE HUMAN RESOURCES TRADESMEN DISAPPEAR THE
BACKLOG

Sharing tradesmen between boroughs is now a standard operating procedure at
Parks. Since January 15, on any given day, tradesmen representing one of several
trades at Parks-including standards like blacksmithing, carpentry, and plumbing,
as well as specialties like cement masonry, steam fitting, and lettering-are
detailed to a borough where the backlog looms large. Thus far, electricians
have been dispatched to Brooklyn, blacksmiths and carpenters to Manhattan, and
plumbers and carpenters to Queens for two-week focus periods, or backlog blitzes.
The system is designed to plug gaps in one borough with additional manpower
from the others. The system is balanced such that each borough both gives and
receives assistance to improve shops' efficiency citywide.

Additional skilled labor has helped reduce the backlog of outstanding work
orders in some cases by as much as fifty percent. In Parks' very first shop
share, in Brooklyn, five electricians from out of the borough lent their skills
and a total of 168 hours to fulfill outstanding work orders. Full time, Brooklyn
employs one electrician. With five times the manpower, the borough was able
to halve their backlog in 10 working days. According to Nancy (Liberty)
Barthold; Brooklyn Chief of Operations, "It was a huge help and made
a significant dent in our backlog." In the most recent instance of shop sharing,
in Queens, a list of jobs from leaky faucets to running toilets were assigned
to the additional tradesmen who completed the jobs and crossed them off the
list of outstanding work orders.

In November 2000, Deputy Commissioner Alan (Northside) Moss,
suggested reorganizing Parks' shops for greater efficiency. He asked staff to
consider how the backlog in work orders might be reduced. Artie (Stallion)
Rollins, Deputy Chief of Technical Services at Five Boro first proposed
the formalized sharing of tradesmen when he noticed the disproportionate backlog
in electrical jobs in Brooklyn in a review of work orders at a Deputy Chiefs
meeting. Two weeks later, five electricians made the trip to Brooklyn. The array
of trades represented differs among Parks' six shops. Likewise, the operational
needs of each are determined by their unique facilities. The shop sharing initiative
is but one example of how can Parks benefit from coordinating the activities
of all six shops.

Like 5x5s, shop sharing enables crews who focus on different tasks and locations,
to join forces and concentrate their skills in one area where they are needed.
Because the efforts are intensified, the results are dramatic. Anyone who's
ever watched papers pile up on their desk, knows that a growing problem cut
off at the source is a boost to efficiency and morale. For Parks' shops, sharing
tradesmen has been a big help. Stacy (Tigress) Sonnenberg, Chief
of Five Boro Technical Services, Jeremy (Snowball) Peterson, Director
of Operations & Management Planning and James (Stroker) Sattler,
Analyst for Operations & Management Planning oversee the continuation of the
initiative, carried out by about 200 shops staff citywide.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Tuesday, March 29, 1988)

SPRING IN SWING: PARKS' APRIL EVENTS

Spring has sprung in New York City's parks, offering both simple pleasures
and exciting weekend events. Form bird watching to egg rolling, the Parks Department
has planned a number of ways to celebrate the glories of the season. Here are
some: